The Ugandan government has said Uganda is free from bird flu and in case there is an outbreak, it has been well equipped to handle the epidemic.

"Among the tests we carried out on the suspected birds, the results were negative," Sam Okware, the chairman of the national taskforce on bird flu was quoted by Daily Monitor on Monday as saying.

He was speaking during the launch of a massive sensitization communication strategy at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Kampala.

Okware said all the tests carried out with the most recent incident on birds (chicken), which were found dead on a farm in Ntinda, a Kampala suburb, were negative.

The communication strategy will involve several media channels, which will include radio adverts on over 20 FM radios, all the television channels, all newspapers, and posters. Fliers will also be distributed throughout the country in several languages starting on Monday.

The campaign is aimed at informing and educating the masses on how to prevent and handle birds in case of deaths.

Flavio Oliveira of Ugachick, a major local chicken supplier, said they have embarked on workshops to inform farmers on how to handle the suspected cases of bird flu.

"Ugachick is now distributing fliers containing bird flu information in and on all the products we sell," she said.

Tests of bird flu have been carried out at the Uganda Virus Institute in Entebbe and at the Uganda Livestock Center in Kampala.

Meanwhile, the government is probing reports of dead poultry and other animals in some parts of the country in it s bid to guard against the deadly bird flu virus.

Mondo Kagonyera, general duties minister and veterinary doctor, who heads the cabinet committee on surveillance of the bird flu, told Parliament on Friday that the government was concerned about the possibility of the disease breaking out in Uganda.

It followed concerns raised by the chairman of the agriculture, animal industry and fisheries committee, John Odit, who said he had received reports of death of chicken and other domestic animals in several parts of the country.

Kagonyera said he would immediately ascertain if the deaths are related to bird flu or not.

"I was not aware of the mortalities. The ministry of agriculture has been duly notified to make sure they find out what disease it is," Kagonyera said.

He said bird flu had come as near as Nigeria, Niger and Egypt, but Uganda was lucky not to have detected any cases. He said east coast fever, swine fever, foot and mouth diseases can break out in new territories when it rains.

He also urged all leaders and the public to contact the nearest veterinary officers or ministry of health officials, if they get reports of massive animal deaths.

Source: Xinhua